Sox pummel Jays to gain Toronto trifecta

Sox 8, Toronto 0
WP: Wakefield (4-3)
LP: Halladay (4-2)
HRs: BOS- Lowell (7)

Sorry if the broom hit you Jays on the way out! (comic by the great Frank Glasso)

SUMMARY:
For the third consecutive game the Sox combined an awesome offensive attack with a stellar pitching performance to earn a three game sweep of the sinking Jays. Boston scored at least eight runs, smashed at least 12 hits and held Toronto to three runs or less in each contest.

Total. Domination.

HERO: Kevin Youkilis 3-5, 2-2Bs, 2R, 2RBI
Two days after being struck in the leg by a pitch while enjoying a 3-3 night and one night after sitting out a game to let the injury calm down, Youk took his hot bat and sprayed the ball all over SkyDome and was instrumental in the Sox win.

He doubled in the first and scored the first run, singled in Alex Cora with Boston's 2nd run in the 3rd inning, and then doubled in the 4th to cap the scoring with the eighth and final run; Youk is now on a 9-16 tear and is batting .316.

GOAT: Roy Halladay 5IP, 11H, 7ER, 0BB, 2K, HR
You know things are going bad for your team when your staff ace and resident Cy Young owner takes the mound and fares no better than his piddling predecessors, Victor Zambrano and Tomo Ohka.

RECAP:
I'm not sure where to start with this one. Maybe that's because I missed the start of the game due to the fact that I was at my son's Little League post-season tournament and was busy watching his team destroy its first-round opponent by a score of 9-2.

Looks like it was the same kind of game in Toronto.

Once again the Red Sox pounded a Blue Jays pitcher early and often, jumping up to a quick 1-0 lead after two innings before breaking a 6-run chunk over their heads in the 3rd, enabling Boston to reach the 8-run plateau for the third straight game here.

The shocking thing about this onslaught wasn't that the blazing Boston bats remained white hot, but that the damage was done against one of the best pitchers in the game, Roy Halladay. The former Cy Young winner allowed 11 hits and all eight runs (seven earned) in just five innings of work; it was the most runs Halladay had allowed in a home start since 2003.

Boston got on the board in the first inning (for the 3rd straight game) thanks to a double by Youk, a foolhardy pickoff attempt by Halladay, and an RBI groundout by Ortiz.

In the third the Sox would plant one of those comeback-proof avalanche of runs on the hapless Jays, and once again Youk was right in the middle of it. Alex Cora (2-4, R) singled to center with one out and moved to second on a groundout by Lugo. Youk singled in Cora, and then Papi (1-4, R, 2BI) doubled him home for his second RBI of the game to make the score 3-0.

Continuing the two-out tidal wave, Manny (2-4, R, RBI) laced a single to right that scored Ortiz (who had taken third on the throw-in on his double), and after J.D.Drew followed with a single, Mike Lowell continued his power surge when he launched a 3-run blast to left that brought the curtain down on another Jays loss; Lowell homered in all three games of the series.

And tonight's beneficiary of another Sox scorefest was the man who now owns the American League's best ERA, Tim Wakefield. Wake, who hasn't allowed a run in his last 14 innings of work and lowered his ERA from 2.57 to 1.79, had his knuckler dancing again; the ageless wonder kept the Jays hitters at bay all day, allowing just three singles and one walk while striking out five in seven shutout innings.

The only time Wake got into trouble he helped turn a rally-killing double play that took the wind out of Toronto's sails. In the first inning Toronto loaded the bases with one out on singles by Adam Lind & Vernon Wells and a walk to Troy Glaus. With Big Frank Thomas up and the bases loaded, the game was primed to swing in the Jays favor.

Then again, what am I thinking, these are the May 2007 Jays, the Keystone Cops of MLB, a team that's been in "the sky is falling" mode for almost two weeks now. Thus Wake got Frank to strike out swinging on a nasty knuckler, and Mirabelli smartly snapped the ball down to first base to nab Glaus, who got caught napping on the hit & run. End of inning, end of threat, end of Jays.

The Sox now own the second-best record in the majors, a half game behind flash-in-the-pan Milwaukee (that's right, Brewers fans, I said it), and own a 7-game division lead over the Stanks and its next opponent, the Orioles.

But the way this team is playing, it doesn't matter what team lines up on the opposite side of the field right now-the Sox are capable of defeating any & all comers.

It's good to be the kings.

NOTES:

-Boston tallied 13 hits for the second game in a row, including five doubles and a homer; Mirabelli (0-4) was the only starter who didn't record a hit.

-Toronto's losing streak tied its longest since a team-record 12-gamer in the strike-shortened 1981 season, but with the Rays coming to town that record should be safe

-Drew broke a 3-31 schneid with two hits; even with the two knocks, he's still only batting .257

-Hideki Okajima made his first appearance since Sunday in Minnesota and looked like the Oki we know & love: he pitched a perfect 8th and struck out two batters, raising his season total to 21 in 17 innings of work.

-Alex Cora, who hadn't played since Sunday, either, spelled Pedroia and picked up where he left off with another 2-hit game, raising his average to .415. He's got to play more, and with Lugo pulling a measly .227, short would seem a likely spot, although how do you bench and $8 mil/ year player for a low-priced sub?

-J.C. Romero pitched the 9th and allowed two hits

-To add injury to insult for Toronto, closer BJ Ryan will miss the remainder of the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, and Victor Zambrano also was placed on a DL with a forearm strain (I gues allowing our homers in 2+ innings will do that)

QUOTES:

-"We're just playing good baseball, man. We're pitching, we're hitting, we're playing defense. We're clicking right now."- Lowell, summing it all up nicely

-"He's definitely throwing the ball great. He's going out there every day and giving us a chance to win."- 'Belli on his pitcher, Wake

-"These things kind of take on a life of their own. You've just got to focus on your job."- Halladay, expressing his thoughts on the difficulty of a long losing streak

RECORD: 23-10

AL EAST: Up 7 gms on NYY (who got crushed by TEX, 14-2!) & BAL

UP NEXT: FRI vs. BAL 7P